Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Interim Corporate Director Resources which highlighted the strategic risks facing the Council and to give an insight into the work carried out by the Corporate Risk Management Group during the period April to June 2016 (for copy see file of Minutes).

It was noted that as at 30 June 2016, there were 26 strategic risks, the same number as at 31 March 2016.

Mr D Beavis, Co-opted Member raised a query regarding risks in meeting annual cuts and sustaining those cuts in light of Brexit. In response the Interim Corporate Director advised that this was factored into the MTFP as a general risk and would continue to be a feature. Although cuts were becoming increasingly difficult to achieve, the council through robust financial planning were in a sustainable position whilst also having to face unprecedented demographic pressures.

Further discussion took place regarding the recent ICT issue. Councillor Bell added that the Council sought assurance that this type of issue would not reoccur. In response the Interim Corporate Director Resources advised that IT risks would continue to be picked up via risk reporting. It was however noted, that the particular issue referred to did demonstrate that the Business Continuity Plan did operate effectively. In addition work had been undertaken at Comeleon House to prevent any further reoccurrence of similar issues.

Councillor C Carr added that had been experiencing issues with loss of signal on council mobile phones and was aware that other members had experienced similar issues on a regular basis. The Interim Corporate Director advised that he would take this issue back for further investigation.

Mr C Robinson, Co-opted Member raised a query regarding third party IT and what assurances the council had from those suppliers that the systems were resilient in case of any downtime. Further discussion took place regarding internal and external providers and further reference was made to the business continuity plan and business critical systems. It was also noted that in the event of any major issue at one of the larger council owned sites, agile working practices ensured that employees could attend work at any other council building.

In conclusion Councillor Bell suggested that a seminar should be arranged for members to provide training on how to approach and deal with risk management.

Resolved:

That the report provided assurance that strategic risks are being effectively managed within the risk management framework across the Council.